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Ujiri has struck the chemistry motherlode with a Toronto team that’s 28-24 and leading the Atlantic Division.

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has been encouraged by his team's unexpected success this season. However, with the trade deadline approaching, he is adamant he won't sacrifice the future for the here and now. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star file photo)

It is elusive and cannot be fully described, but it is the one thing Masai Ujiri covets more than anything as he tries to construct a Raptors roster that will grow into something special.

He understands that every NBA player can shoot, dribble, jump and run and have the requisite skills that make them employable; it is finding a group that can do that without petty jealousies or personality clashes disrupting that growth is what drives him.

“The only thing I’m fascinated with is chemistry,” the Raptors general manager said in a wide-ranging interview in his corner office this week. “For me, that just beats everything because it’s what you dream about in team sports.”

With that in mind, Ujiri will approach the coming NBA trade deadline cautiously, always looking for ways to improve the roster but always worried about disrupting what is a pretty good — if young — thing he’s crafted so far.

“Chemistry is a hard thing to find in sports,” he said. “When you find it, you better ride it and figure it out from there, start figuring it out from there, because it is a very difficult thing to find in sports.”

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There is no doubt Ujiri has struck the chemistry motherlode with a Toronto team that’s 28-24 and leading the Atlantic Division by 3 1/2 games going into the all-star break. There is a genuine feeling of camaraderie and mutual respect permeating the roster. It is not something he wants to disrupt, even as he knows full well there are improvements necessary for the team to continue its path to Eastern Conference relevance.

“I’ll never forget that Brooklyn game when we won over there,” he said of a dramatic, last-second win over the Nets that spoke volumes to Toronto’s ability to hang around in games, working together and never giving up hope.

“Seeing them coming back into that locker room you could tell . . . there is a belief.

“The one thing, you never see any blame. Yeah, they’ll get on each other sometimes on the court but you can tell it’s to encourage and it’s in the moment, but there is that belief that we can fight and we can get there.”

How quickly? That is the question.

With the trade deadline looming, Ujiri is unwilling to sacrifice the longer-term future for immediate satisfaction. This a good team, far from great, with lots of room for improvement. But trying to hit a home run for the rest of this season runs counter to Ujiir’s personality, and his job description.

He appreciates what’s going on, was its architect in many ways with the roster-changing trade of Rudy Gay, but he also has to be beholden to the future. He is not an impetuous GM looking for a quick fix.

“Everybody gets excited, and sometimes we try to take too many steps forward but here we’re not like that, that’s not how I am,” he said. “We’re not here thinking we’ve arrived at all, there is still so much work to be done, so much thinking to be done.

“We are the one office that has to look at it five years from now, we have to. We can’t just look at it . . . if we make this move, it gets us to 48 (wins this season) and next year it takes us down; we’re not going to do things like that. We’re going gradually, patiently and we are going to build this team and this organization for the future. I have to do that.”

But still, it’s been a fun ride.

“What excites me is the challenge of what this could be one day because everybody is so encouraging. You can tell, people want to win, they want to win and for me, it’s positive. You feel like you really want to do it for the city but we have take the steps to do it. You feel the excitement, which is awesome.”

For more with Masai Ujiri — his thoughts on Dwane Casey, franchise growth and the decision-making process — see Doug Smith’s Sports Blog on Monday at noon.

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